Ethan nodded. Carter Williamson, the father of the baby they were here to see as well as the co-owner to W Motors, was taking no chances. The head of Carter's security, Brian Cards, had even checked the gift bag Ethan carried the moment they stepped on hospital grounds.
“Wait here,” Ethan said to Craig. “I'll be just inside.”
“No leaving without me,” Craig reminded him, taking a seat near the nurse's station.
“Of course not,” Ethan assured him. He walked over to the only open door and peeked inside.
Carter was sitting near the window with a little bundle of pink blankets in his lap making goo-goo eyes and big smiles at the baby inside them.
“How's my wittle girly-wirly?” Carter asked his daughter in a sing-song voice that sounded strange coming from the usually stern man. Ethan co
uldn't have imagined something like this.
“How's the wittle daddy-waddy?” Ethan asked in a similar silly voice, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
“Don't you worry, my little baby girl. I can still beat his ass and fire him,” Carter told her in the same soft baby-talk voice. He looked up from his daughter and grinned at Ethan. “Good to see you, Ethan.”
“Should you be swearing in front of your kid like that?” Ethan asked, setting his gift on the counter and coming over to see the baby. Carter held her up like she was the most precious, beautiful thing in the world. “Congratulations. She's beautiful,” Ethan told the proud father.
“You want to hold her?” Carter asked, offering her out to him like it was some sort of honor.
“Um, sure.” Ethan held out his arms uncertainly. He didn't want to say no to his best friend.
“Do you know how to hold a baby?” Carter asked before handing over the bundle of blankets. He looked at Ethan's open arms uncertainly.
“Of course I do,” Ethan scoffed, reaching for the baby. “You just don't drop them.”
Carter shook his head. “Here, put your arms here and support her head,” he coached, carefully putting the baby in Ethan's hands.
Ethan felt the weight of the child pass to him, and her head suddenly rolled to the side. “Shit!”
“She's fine,” Carter said in a calm voice. “Just hold her head.”
“What's wrong with her neck?” Ethan asked, carefully supporting her so she wouldn't go lopsided on him again.
“Nothing,” Carter told him. “That's just how newborns work.”
Ethan held her like she was a ticking bomb. If her neck couldn't support her head, he was afraid that just moving her wrong would make her stop breathing or something. For the life of him, he could not figure out how humans survived as a species.
“Aww, you're a natural,” Mia said, coming out of the bathroom. She wore a clean nightgown, and her brunette hair was wet from the shower. She came over and gave Ethan a side hug as she checked on her daughter.
“Hi, Mia,” Ethan greeted her. “How are you?”
“Not pregnant,” Mia replied with a laugh. “Which is amazing. How are you?”
“Also not pregnant.” He grinned at her, and she laughed again.
“I'm so glad, Ethan,” Carter said. “We were a little worried there for awhile.”
Ethan rolled his eyes at his business partner.
“So, Mia,” Ethan pointedly asked, turning to the nicer person in the relationship. “What did you two end up naming her? I know you weren't sure the last time I saw you.”
Mia and Carter looked at one another, sharing a secret smile that only lovers have.
“Mireille Joy,” Mia announced proudly. She pronounced it as “Meer-ay.”
“Mireille?” he repeated. The name flowed off his tongue like music. It wasn't a name he'd heard before.